Glad you had good time the past weekend at oral school reunion - There is something that you all need to take to your hearts and think it over - the more you go in that direction - you are hurting the deaf community. You use sign language, yet you go to the place where it is oppressed in classrooms as well as its philosophy. It is double standard. This is why I have boycotted oral school reunions since 1981. I asked some members to make motion to have 51% deaf on board, hire Deaf teachers to be role models to deaf students, incorporate the use of ASL in classrooms and reduce audism at the school.
It is ironic how the members suckered up to the hearing people at oral school and how they swept the suggested motions under the rug. This is how and why I gave them the OSTRICH Award. They continue to stick their heads in ground while deaf issues fly over.
I am telling you that it is like sending sick children to a butcher's birthday party. I have to do this kind of analogy to show comparison of how hearing people are treating deaf children in that capacity. It is like Mask of Benevolence....the cochlear implant companies are greedy and raking in millions of dollars. They are abusing the system already.
The more the hearing people in oral programs use you, the more the public views them as higher authority on deaf culture. They are using you for propaganda to further their goals as part of their pathological quest for recognition in medical field
Lastly, I made the move to demand that the oral school remove my great great uncle, Henry W. Kiel, (Mayor of St. Louis - 1913-1925) from any publications or any comments in their websites or pamphlets or any PR stuff. I did not want my ancestor to be part of that oral school program like I have refused to acknowledge anymore that part. I know I cannot change history, but the bottom line is they cannot use it anymore.
So it is important that the members stand up and request those changes. We have been guinea pigs long enough and it is time to sign "Enough is enough!"
Look at many changes around the country and the world in reducing audism. You need to take the lead and go in the right direction!
Good luck!
